Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames hit major reflection point after scraping by a win against the Blackhawks

Taken By Chance – To repeat – Backlund (86.68 SCF% // 82.21 HDCF%) line were the winners here at 5-0 in terms of chances. Well, Backlund faced one high danger chance the other two did not – that can happen if penalties end or a shift change occurs on the fly. Andersson (17.22% // 15.43%) saw over 10 high danger chances against. No, I didn’t mistype that he really let the 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks without Connor Bedard put up 10 high danger chances at 5v5 against him. It wasn’t all him, the Kadri (33.37% // 16.96%) trio all got absolutely run over too. Most of it was a combination of the 5 players on the ice failing to work in harmony in the first period. If Markstrom wasn’t the guy this game has a high likelihood of being a Flames loss.

xG Breakdown – 

xGF% – Oliver Kylington (61.72%) amazingly looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. His speed on the backend is something almost impossible to replicate and creates so many advantages for him – and the team – while he’s out there. To be able to sit and watch him fly around the rink again is special. Matt Coronato (51.05%) didn’t seem too bad with a line change three games after being called up. I still think having Sharangovich (49.61%) and him on the same line is a waste of two lethal shots and no real set-up man. Coronato’s been good since the recall – he’ll go back to the Wranglers presumably till the trade deadline passes, but with all the injuries the Flames are suffering from that opinion of mine may not come to fruition.

Game Flow – 

Game Score –

Shot Heatmap – 

In The Crease – How you let the Blackhawks put up 2.2 worth of expected goals at 5v5 is beyond me. Maybe some guys checked out early, maybe the 4-game losing streak has sucked some of the hope out of the supposedly strong veteran room, or maybe sometimes this team just doesn’t have that one guy that can take over every shift and dominate the lesser teams. I said it in the opening lead and I’ll say it again – the record of this team is massively inflated because of Markstrom. The roster playing in front of him has not been a .500 club and the decision going forward need to take that into account. This “playoff” push they keep dreaming about – and making nightly coaching decisions reflecting this mindset – need to adjust soon to better reflect the needs of the future of this franchise. By no means am I expecting the coach to not try and win, but you can certainly try while playing players more than 2:10 against a largely AHL roster.

Player Spotlight – Chris Tanev – I just want to take a moment and appreciate him while he still wears the Flaming C. All of the dirty work he put in to make sure the crowd got to see a competitive game every time he put his equipment is not lost on a hardworking city like Calgary. Sadly, this business marches forward as inevitably as time passes and it does look like his time in Calgary will come to an end. I am on record for saying his deal was going to be one of the worst the Flames signed at the time of the signing, his subsequent season where he was beyond elite defensively changed how I analyzed numbers and looked at the game of hockey. I always want to look for something that can help me learn or advance ways I can watch plays on the ice – Tanev brought that to me. I am ever so grateful he came here, and he will forever have a fan in myself. 

The Goals – 

Flashalytic’s 3 Stars – 

1) Jacob Markstrom

2) Elias Lindholm

3) Andrew Mangiapane

(Stats compiled from Naturalstattrick.com // Game Score from Hockeystatcards.com // xG and Under Pressure charts from HockeyViz.com // Game Flow and Shot Heatmap from NaturalStatTrick.com)